How to Read a Market Page

Every coin page is dense with numbers — price, change, market cap, volume, supply. Used well, they tell a coherent story about an asset; misread, they mislead. This guide walks through each figure you will see across TBN Express so that every number means something to you.

Price and 24-hour change

The headline price is an average across markets and updates constantly; no two venues quote exactly the same figure. The 24-hour change shows the move over the last day in percent — useful for context, but a single day says little about trend. The live table below shows both for the major coins.

Market capitalisation

Market cap = current price × circulating supply. It is the standard way to compare the relative size of assets, and it is why a low per-coin price does not make a coin “cheap”: a coin priced at a few cents with a huge supply can be far larger than one priced in the thousands. Always judge size by market cap, not by sticker price.

Trading volume

Volume is the value traded over a period, usually 24 hours. It is a rough gauge of liquidity and interest: higher volume generally means it is easier to buy or sell without moving the price. Very low volume relative to market cap is a risk & volatility warning sign, common among smaller altcoins.

Circulating, total and max supply

A large gap between circulating and total supply means more coins may enter the market later, which can dilute holders. Our glossary defines each term in context.

Put the numbers to work

Convert values with the crypto converter, model an entry and exit with the profit/loss calculator, and check overall market sentiment on the Fear & Greed Index. Then explore the full market via our live market data.

All-time high and all-time low

The all-time high (ATH) is the highest price an asset has ever traded; the all-time low (ATL) is the lowest. Both are useful context but easy to misread. A coin sitting far below its ATH is not automatically “cheap” or “due” for a recovery — the previous peak may have reflected conditions that no longer apply. Treat these figures as history, not as targets.

Fully diluted valuation

Market capitalisation counts only the coins currently in circulation. Fully diluted valuation (FDV) instead values the maximum possible supply at today’s price. A large gap between market cap and FDV tells you a lot of supply has yet to enter circulation — which can weigh on price as those coins unlock. Comparing the two numbers is a quick way to spot whether a low headline price is hiding a much larger eventual supply.

Charts and timeframes

A price chart looks very different depending on the window you choose. A coin can be up sharply on the day yet down over the year, or vice versa. Always check which timeframe you are looking at before drawing conclusions, and be wary of charts cropped to flatter a particular story. Short windows capture noise; longer windows show trend.

Why two sites show different numbers

There is no single official price in crypto. Different platforms aggregate different exchanges, refresh on different schedules, and may calculate supply slightly differently, so small discrepancies between sites are normal rather than errors. Our own figures and refresh windows are documented in our methodology.

Liquidity and why it matters

Two coins can show the same price while being completely different to trade. Liquidity describes how easily you can buy or sell without moving the price much. A highly liquid asset has deep buying and selling interest, so even sizeable orders fill close to the quoted price. A thinly traded one can lurch on a single modest order, and selling in a hurry may mean accepting a worse price than the screen suggests. Trading volume is a useful proxy: persistently low volume is a sign that a quoted price may be fragile, and that exiting a position could be harder than entering it.

A quick checklist for any coin page

Putting the pieces together, a fast pass over any market page might run like this: glance at the price and the 24-hour change for momentum, then check market capitalisation for true scale rather than headline price. Compare circulating supply against maximum supply, and market cap against fully diluted valuation, to see how much supply is still to come. Scan volume for liquidity, and note the timeframe on any chart before drawing conclusions. None of these numbers is a recommendation — together they simply give you an honest, rounded picture instead of a single misleading figure. Our methodology explains exactly where each value comes from.

From numbers to better decisions

The point of learning these figures is not to memorise definitions but to stop being misled by any single one of them. A low headline price can hide an enormous future supply; a soaring 24-hour gain can sit inside a brutal yearly decline; a familiar logo can mask a thinly traded, hard-to-exit asset. Reading a market page well means holding several numbers in view at once and asking what they say together. Done consistently, that habit turns a wall of statistics into a genuinely useful picture — and it makes the marketing around any given coin much easier to see through. Remember that the figures describe what has happened, not what will; they inform judgement rather than replace it.

Frequently asked questions